1
as in to strangle
to be or cause to be killed by lack of breathable air
unfortunately, the robbers were stifled when they got trapped in the airless bank vault
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to suppress
to refrain from openly showing or uttering
stifled a yawn
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of stifle
Both Democratic and Republican state officials have criticized the effort to prohibit state-level regulations over the next decade, while AI executives have argued that varying state laws would stifle industry growth when the United States is in stiff competition with countries like China.
—
Allan Smith, NBC news, 12 June 2025
Days of record temperatures to abate by midweek The heat dome unleashing stifling heat across the Pacific Northwest is expected to ease by Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service.
—Christopher Cann, USA Today, 11 June 2025
This approach treated most digital assets as unregulated securities subject to traditional registration requirements, creating uncertainty that many industry participants viewed as stifling innovation.
—Josh Hammer, MSNBC Newsweek, 11 June 2025
Meanwhile, pants that are too stiff or heavy can stifle your movement.
—Jennifer Heimlich, SELF, 9 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for stifle
Allan Smith, NBC news, 12 June 2025
Days of record temperatures to abate by midweek The heat dome unleashing stifling heat across the Pacific Northwest is expected to ease by Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service.
—Christopher Cann, USA Today, 11 June 2025
This approach treated most digital assets as unregulated securities subject to traditional registration requirements, creating uncertainty that many industry participants viewed as stifling innovation.
—Josh Hammer, MSNBC Newsweek, 11 June 2025
Meanwhile, pants that are too stiff or heavy can stifle your movement.
—Jennifer Heimlich, SELF, 9 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for stifle
Recent Examples of Synonyms for stifle
Verb
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And those payments are now strangling the city’s budget.—
Daniel Borenstein,
Mercury News,
17 June 2025
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There was another path—to strangle the regime and empower the people.—
Nazanin Boniadi,
Time,
17 June 2025
Verb
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This outdated mentality fosters two counterproductive patterns: emotional repression, in which individuals suppress feelings, and emotional reactivity, where feelings are expressed impulsively and without regulation.—
Andriana Eliadis,
Forbes.com,
20 June 2025
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Firefighters are working to suppress the fire, which is currently burning with a slow rate of spread.—
CA WILDFIRE BOT,
Sacbee.com,
20 June 2025
Verb
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As of February, staffers from DOGE had pushed top-ranking officials at the Department of Education out of their offices, rearranged the furniture and set up white noise machines to muffle their voices, according to employees at the agency.—
Lora Kolodny,Ari Levy,
CNBC,
22 Apr. 2025
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Congressional push-back is inevitable, but the promise of tens of thousands of U.S. jobs can muffle many speeches.—
Guney Yildiz,
Forbes.com,
13 May 2025
Verb
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On Monday, Jane gave harrowing testimony about a night in June 2024 when Combs allegedly choked, punched and kicked her in a rage.—
Nancy Dillon,
Rolling Stone,
10 June 2025
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Various items were pulled from shelves back in March, ranging from fears that teething sticks could be a choking hazard to concerns about the particular batteries in a microphone potentially overheating and igniting.—
Chloe Mayer,
MSNBC Newsweek,
10 June 2025
Verb
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All eight of the current relievers in Chicago's bullpen have ERAs under 4.00 There is no easy option and no matter who is chosen, the pill will be a tough one to swallow for whichever reliever is demoted or released.—
Andrew Wright,
MSNBC Newsweek,
19 June 2025
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Did the striper swallow it back far enough that a circle hook will grab?—
Joe Cermele,
Outdoor Life,
19 June 2025
Verb
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This speaks to the potential that Iran owes to its heritage, but that has been smothered by a small, inward looking and harsh theocracy, aided and abetted by the Revolutionary Guard who exert de facto control over the Iranian economy as well as other sectors.—
Mike O'Sullivan,
Forbes.com,
20 June 2025
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Vines like English ivy, wisteria, honeysuckle, and bittersweet can smother trees and shrubs, block sunlight, and spread aggressively if not controlled early.—
Mary Marlowe Leverette,
Southern Living,
14 June 2025
Verb
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Benny’s presented as an overachieving sponge, absorbing contradictory messages about how he is supposed to live in society from both masc frat culture, which tells him to repress, and the relatively more progressive music and films he’s become obsessed with, which tell him to, uh, slay.—
Jackson McHenry,
Vulture,
15 May 2025
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Autocrats use such measures to speed power consolidation, repress protests and demonstrate force to the world.—
Mandy Taheri,
Newsweek,
8 Mar. 2025
Verb
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The brown prickly algae is suffocating shorelines from Puerto Rico to Guyana and beyond, disrupting tourism, killing wildlife, and even releasing toxic gases that forced one school in the French Caribbean island of Martinique to temporarily close.—
Danica Coto,
Christian Science Monitor,
4 June 2025
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The Thunder’s defense has been suffocating all postseason, minus a couple of blips in the conference finals.—
Rohan Nadkarni,
NBC news,
4 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Stifle.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/stifle. Accessed 26 Jun. 2025.
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